The boys’ varsity soccer team once again made it deep into Class 1A postseason play, finally losing in Supersectionals with a score of 2-1 in Lisle, Illinois at Benedictine University on Tuesday evening.

Losing 1-0, junior Dylan Jung scored Parker’s lone goal on a penalty kick with 3:57 remaining. But the, just 24 seconds later, Franklin scored the team’s second goal with 3:33 minutes remaining off of a free kick that managed to penetrate the wall.

“We were really hoping that we could move further this year than we did last year,” sophomore Ryan Humphrey said. “Hopefully next year we can take it to State.”

“I think the team did well this season,” Athletics Director Bobby Starks said. “They could have been more consistent, but overall they did well.” Indeed the team was slightly inconsistent: they lost to local rivals, Latin and Lab, but beat one of the top ten teams in the state of Illinois. This season they placed third in the Independent School League (ISL), with a total of 11 wins, 8 losses, and 3 ties.

“There were some losses that we felt like we should have won,” Starks said. “But that all leads up to postseason play, which is the most important piece to the season.”

The team had been Regional Champions for the past two years and secured the spot again this year, beating Intrinsic Charter School from Irving Park in penalty kicks on October 17.

After winning Regionals, the team progressed to the IHSA Sectional Final at Marine Academy on October 20 where they played Sullivan High School, a CPS school in the Rogers Park neighborhood. In a nailbiter of a game, Parker won by a score of 1-0 in overtime. The lone goal was scored by junior Jared Albert in the game’s 50th minute.

“We were glad to win again,” Albert said, “but we wanted to hopefully keep moving on this year.”

Although the team had high hopes of progressing further this season, their hopes were dashed in the supersectional game Tuesday evening. Parker met up with Saint Edward Central Catholic High School of Elgin, Illinois, which boasted an impressive 24-1 season record on the back of senior striker AJ Franklin, who scored an incredible 68 goals in the games leading up to Tuesday’s match.

“It was a really hard fought match, we were working hard to get a goal the whole game,” said junior and starting outside-midfielder Joey Stern. “We did a good job getting the ball in the box and getting as many shots on goal as possible but things just weren’t working out.”
Though the season is over, senior captain Malcolm Hoerr is happy with the team’s performance. “I am more than proud of our efforts,” Hoerr said. “We played with a lot of heart and showed a ton of improvement over the course of the playoffs.”